In 1985, Miles Davis shocked the music world by moving from Columbia Records to Warner Bros. and started recording Rubberband. This album marked a radical departure for him, with funk and soul grooves, and was to include vocals by Al Jarreau and Chaka Khan.

Engineered by Reggie Dozier (brother of Lamont Dozier, part of the legendary Motown songwriting team), the Rubberband sessions took place at Ameraycan Studios in Los Angeles from October 1985 to January 1986. The album was subsequently shelved, and Miles went on to record Tutu. “It was fat grooves, really funky, Miles talking. It was street and funky and dirty.

We didn’t go after writing a great jazz song, Miles wanted the street thing; he wanted the chord changes he wanted to play. The basis was to take it to the street like On the Corner, it was Miles taking more chances,” said Randy Hall. Zane Giles added, “Miles kept saying ‘I don’t wanna do my usual stuff. I wanna do something different.”

32 years after Rubberband was recorded, the original producers, Randy Hall and Zane Giles, teamed up with Miles’s nephew, Vince Wilburn, Jr., to finish and update the title track. In September 2017, they invited soulful singer Ledisi to guest on vocals at the Village Studios in Los Angeles.

The sessions, co-produced by Anthony “Mac Nass” Loffman and Arthur Haynes for SmashSound Syndicate, together with the original title track, will be released as a 45rpm vinyl 12” EP this Saturday on Record Store Day 2018.

An important moment in music history, the Rubberband full album is due for release in
2019.